Johnny Cash, ‘American VI: Ain’t No Grave’ (American/Lost Highway): This posthumous album by country music’s biggest star, who died in 2003 at the age of 71, is less heartbreaking than its predecessor, “American V,” which featured Cash’s crackup over his late wife June on the tearful “If You Could Read My Mind.” Still, “American VI” is poignant because the wheelchair-bound singer and producer Rick Rubin chose some fitting sign-offs such as Sheryl Crow’s “Redemption Day.” It comes to a breathtaking conclusion with “Aloha Oe,” the song best known for Elvis Presley’s rendering in 1961. Who would have predicted the scowling Man in Black would bow out with Hawaiian guitar and a light “until we meet again”?Sade, ‘Soldier of Love’ (Sony): While there were better singers around in the 1980s, such as Carmel, Helen Folasade Adu was the one who caught the zeitgeist. To my surprise, I found a trip down yuppie memory lane with Sade’s first album in a decade to be irresistible. This record is beautifully done, with songs that recall “Your Love Is King” and “Smooth Operator.” (Perhaps someone should tell Sade, now 51, that the world has moved on: it’s an iPod in the Cayman now.) The title track overdoes every army metaphor, from bugles to military drums. One nit: The recording is strangely soulless. Sade has sold 50 million records and clearly wants to play it safe -- this comeback topped the US charts for three weeks.
Corinne Bailey Rae, ‘The Sea’ (EMI): “Sweet and soulful” was the Bloomberg review summary of Bailey Rae’s first album in 2006. Now aged 31, the singer’s voice has a deeper tinge of sadness: her husband Jason Rae died in 2008 after a drug overdose. Her songs are shot through with the dizziness of love and the pain of despair, from the opening thoughts (“wait till you see those eyes”) to the title track (“the majestic sea, takes everything from me.”)
Information: www.johnnycash.com, www.sade.com, www.corinnebaileyrae.net. © Bloomberg News, 2010
